Split [7-inch] (2010)

War on Music

On "The Banger's Embrace" from 2009's Supporting Caste, Propagandhi used a sample from the opening of Sacrifice's Torment in Fire album. The song itself was about traveling to see a Sacrifice reunion show. So it makes sense, and is probably a dream come true, for the Propagandhi boys to be releasing a split with these Canadian thrash elder statesmen. In lieu of original songs, or covering each other, the two groups offer up covers of bands that influenced them.

Propagandhi started their career playing heavily NOFX-influenced skatepunk before settling on their current brand of thrash "metal", so in a way it makes sense that they cover a band who's undergone just as big of a stylistic transformation as themselves. Corrosion of Conformity played a style of crossover thrash in the 1980s comparable to D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies before morphing into a southern rock-inspired sludge metal band. Here they tackle a song from the group's thrash era: the title track of 1987's Technocracy EP. They don't stray too far from the original, which is fine as it suits their current style well.

Sacrifice keeps things Canadian with a cover of Rush's "Anthem". Needless to say it is much heavier than the original. Rob Urbinati's vocal style is pretty similar to Exodus' Paul Baloff–nothing original, and kind of cheesy at times, but he sounds so excited to be singing this song that it can't be perceived as anything other than genuine.

As a big metal fan who actually prefers Propagandhi's skatepunk era, I can say that this is a split worth picking up. The cover art alone is almost worth the price of purchase, combining elements of the album covers from which these songs originally came from. This might not be essential listening, but it's a fun listen for fans of either band, or just thrash in general.